Link Building for YouTube Videos: How to Build Relations and Improve Search Rankings

YouTube is the second most popular social media platform, and on average, people watch a billion hours worth of YouTube videos on this platform every year. This means it is one of the perfect places for brands to meet new audiences and engage with their consumers. At any minute, you can find many companies and brands there, as well as people sharing their interests, hobbies, and videos of their chunky cute cats. 

Still, it is surprisingly hard to make your videos the top options in search results. But if you do get it right, your SEO rankings will not only be improved, but you will also be able to see incredible growth across other platforms as well. So, in this article, we will be looking at how you can use YouTube backlinks to beat the algorithm and get your business in front of millions of eyes more. 

What Are YouTube Backlinks and How Do They Work? 

The idea of YouTube backlinks can be a bit confusing if you are just hearing it for the first time, and that is because they can mean two things: 

1. They can mean the outbound links you send to your web page from YouTube videos (yours or others). In this case, you boost your website rankings.
2. YouTube backlinks can also mean the external links you send to your YouTube channel from other sites and platforms. This time, you boost your video performance rather than your web page’s results.

Today, we will focus on the second scenario, but we’ll also come back to the first one at the end of our blog. 

Why Are YouTube Links Important for SEO?

But why would anyone go through all the trouble of link-building for this platform in the first place? There are over 2,500 videos being uploaded to YouTube every single minute. For every single video you post, there are probably thousands competing with yours for attention. 

SEO is the only way to beat the others and get the views you need. And with SEO, the more backlinks you have, the more visible you are. But that’s just scratching the surface. Besides boosting your search rankings, YouTube backlinks also:

• Give you more opportunities to land more subscribers, views, and leads and increase sales;
• Establish your brand credibility and build a solid personality that helps you connect better with new and old audiences;
• Diversify your marketing strategy so you can use different platforms effectively to drive traffic, boost your revenue, and many more.

What Kind of Links Work Best for Search Rankings? 

Chances are that you have looked up something on YouTube before making up your mind to buy it. Maybe a new phone. The same goes for everyone else. Wouldn’t you like your channel to be the first result on their feed when they search for topics, products, or services that you specialize in? 

Sadly, not all links have the same effect. But this won’t happen when you know how to do the SEO YouTube backlinks building right. It’s one thing to choose the right platform for your link building, and it’s another thing to know what kinds of links will work for you. You want links that are from relevant sites of good quality, have a low spam score, and have good current traffic. 

A music channel, for instance, would need to find prospects that are relevant, including music blogs that deal with similar topics. An example would be choosing to use a link from a website that sells musical instruments, blogs that talk about musical staff, and maybe those having a few free downloadable music sheets, etc.

Even then, you still have to consider the DR/DA score, authoritativeness, current traffic metric, and spam score. There is also a need to use the right anchor tags that align with the links. The more relevant and natural your YouTube backlinks are, the more search engines love them. 

How to Create Backlinks for Your YouTube Videos to Boost Search Rankings

You already know that the best YouTube backlinks are those from sites that can guarantee you even more engagements than before – preferably a dofollow backlink. But how do you manage to get those types of links? Here are some ideas you can start with:   

#1. Make Cool YouTube Video Content With Creators You Admire

Collaboration video is nothing new on YouTube and can be a great way to get a backlink from one YouTube channel to yours. If your channel talks mostly about music, you can partner with another creator that is not a direct competitor. 

Sometimes, even a direct competitor can be a great idea. So what can you do? The possibilities are endless:

• You two could remix a new version of a popular song; 
• You can create a new music that is a fusion of two beloved tracks;
• Or discuss your perspectives on a trending or popular music-related issue, like the top ten weird fusions that surprisingly work well, etc.  

This lets you reach a whole new audience who shares the same interests and passions as you. Plus, you don’t have to guess or try to figure out what the audience likes and how to appeal to them, at least this won’t require too much effort.

#2. Leverage Relevant Blogs to Bring More YouTube Backlinks

Reaching out to bloggers in your niche is also another good way to create backlinks for your YouTube channel. It doesn’t have to be the biggest, most popular blog – any page with similar topics as yours, lots of traffic, engagements, and a high authority score would do. 

You can send them a video to embed on their article or, as Skill Success recommends, submit a guest post and include a link to one of your YouTube videos. How will you find these blogs? You have several options:

• Google search. You will have to enter “music + write for us” in the search box and then check which of the options that pop up fits your requirements. Found the one you like? Then find their contact details on the site and pitch your idea to them.
• Directories. This is also a good resource to find creators in your niche who may be willing to collaborate on just about any topic.
• Legit link-building services. The emphasis is on legit, aka white-hat link services. They have years of relationships with webmasters across different niches, so they can also help you connect with the right bloggers.
• Personal network. Do you know at least one person who can link you with a fellow blogger or can connect you with someone who knows? Don’t let that go to waste. Ask them if they can introduce you.

P.S. You can also start your own blog where you summarize each point and embed a YouTube video in the relevant post. This will boost your chances of getting more guest post opportunities.

#3. Strategically Promote Your Videos on Other Social Media Platforms

YouTube is not the only social media platform, so you want to branch out and draw in engagements from other platforms as well. You probably already have an account or two on TikTok, Instagram, LinkedIn, or even Pinterest (less popular option but not less effective). How to use them to your benefit?

You can share your videos (or short clips extracted from them) on other socials and leave a link leading back to your YouTube video. This way, you can improve your search rankings while also introducing your brand to more people (aka boosting your reach and visibility). 

Want to make sure your SM posts reach even bigger audiences? Try these few simple tricks:

• Facebook. Make sure you don’t just dump your links; instead post a teaser or a cool clip. Add unique captions and a clear CTA. Figure out the best times to post for most engagements (9 am-6 pm depending on region) and be consistent. 
• Tiktok and Instagram. Use hashtags, jump on relevant trends, and use trending music and filters (where appropriate). Don’t forget to duet when it aligns with your theme and makes sense.
• LinkedIn. Upload short clips of your video (30s-3m long) with a well-structured and interesting post. Keep it readable, short, and engaging. Hook them with a question. This also increases engagement as some will try to answer it. Include captions. Put the link to your video in the comments section. Use hashtags to reach the right audience.

You can also submit your YouTube video content to sites like Reddit, Dailymotion, and other video-sharing sites. Also, don’t forget about harmful backlinks. What are those? From time to time, you might get occasional dubious quality backlinks from some spammy site. 

Too many of them can lower your search rankings. Sometimes, though, you might be the victim of a negative SEO attack. What should you do then? Always check your backlink profile regularly and get rid of such links. 

#4. Use Automated Link-Building Software

Believe it or not, there are tools or software that can significantly reduce the amount of labor involved in creating YouTube backlinks for you. Once you get to know how these SEO tools work, you can easily scale this process and increase your speed while at it. 

You can find some of these tools by doing a Google search for automated link-building tools. You will see many options pop up, but you want to stick to the ones from reputable sources like Semrush, Ahrefs, etc. 

Still, it’s ok to walk the off-beaten path once in a while. Only make sure to take adequate precautions like:

• Check the reviews and ratings on any new tool you intend to use for any SEO purposes, including YouTube backlinks building. Check online communities and forums to see what experienced SEO professionals who use the tool have to say about it and what kind of complaints people have about it;
• Check the price and use the free trial where possible to see what it’s like before you fully commit.

#5. Outsource the Task to a Competent White-Hat Agency

SEO is dicey, and sooner or later, you will run into some kind of challenges. In many cases, since creating backlinks is the hardest and most time-consuming part of SEO, many people just outsource it to someone more experienced and knowledgeable than them. 

This works out well for several reasons. You get your time back so you can focus on making more of the videos you and your audience love. At the same time, you have an expert with the right network and skills to build up your SEO rankings and ensure that your YouTube videos are getting the attention they deserve.   

Still, as you did with the tool, you also want to do some background checks on any agency and ensure they are using white-hat tactics, like creating quality content, before bringing them on board. Here’s what you need to look out for:

• Review their case studies and portfolio and focus on how they have helped businesses like yours get YouTube backlinks;
• Check if they offer a personalized strategy for each client based on goals;
• Verify that they are transparent about their tactics, policies, pricing, and more;
• Analyze if they have a clear KPI metric, regular reports, and a strong customer support system.

How to Use the Backlinks From Your YouTube Channel to Drive Traffic to Your Website

Whether you use your channel on YouTube as part of your video marketing strategy or simply as a hobby (for fun), SEO YouTube backlinks can help drive the kind of growth that you desire. Here is how to use your video content properly to also drive traffic to your website:

• Ensure your profile should have a link that leads viewers to your website, and the “About” section should have links to all your other social media profiles;
• Add links to relevant web pages in your YouTube video content descriptions in comments where you know the viewer can get more context by checking the web page;
• Leverage interactive info cards to add YouTube backlinks that lead to your web pages  and make sure the link aligns with what you are discussing or highlighting in your video at that moment;
• Add backlinks to your site at the end of your video content. This becomes your CTA, nudging your audience toward your website.

Conclusion 

Quality YouTube backlinks are like gems: very valuable and can improve the overall SEO appeal of your channel and website. Just be sure you focus more on gathering as many of them as you can, preferably from the best sources. You will be able to grow your audience reach and see your revenue jump higher within a short time.